Caribou Creek is a river in the east-central part of the
Canadian province of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
. The
river's source is in a hilly plateau called
Cub Hills
The Cub Hills are a hilly plateau located south-east of the geographical centre of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The hills are in the boreal forest ecozone of Canada and the landforms of the hills were shaped more than 10,000 years ...
, near the western boundary of
Narrow Hills Provincial Park
Narrow Hills Provincial Park is a northern boreal forest provincial recreational park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in a hilly plateau called the Cub Hills and contains several recreational facilities and over 25 a ...
. The river heads south following a glacier-carved valley through the Cub Hills en route to its mouth at
Lower Fishing Lake. The entire course of the river is in the
boreal forest
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...
ecozone of Canada. Caribou Creek is a tributary of
Stewart Creek, which flows south and into the east-flowing
Torch River
Torch River is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river's source is the dam at Candle Lake, near Candle Lake Provincial Park, and it travels east through boreal forest and muskeg en route to its mouth in the Saskatche ...
. Torch River is a tributary of the
Saskatchewan River
The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...
as it flows into the
Saskatchewan River Delta
The Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD) is a large alluvial delta that straddles the border of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in south-central Canada. Currently terminating at Cedar Lake, Manitoba, the delta is composed mainly of various t ...
. Much of the upper
watershed was burned in 1977 in what is known as the Fishing Lakes Fire and is now dominated by a forest of
jack pine
Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...
.
Caribou Creek is accessed from
Hanson Lake Road
Highway 106, the Hanson Lake Road, is a fully paved provincial highway, with no cell service the entire way, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 55
The following highways are numbered 55:
International
* European rou ...
along the southern shore of
Upper Fishing Lake. Along the highway, near the point where Caribou Creek flows out of Upper Fishing Lake, is Caribou Creek Lodge. The lodge features a motel, cabins, a dining room, fuel, and a convenience store.
Course
Caribou Creek begins in
muskeg and swamp in a valley formed over 10,000 years ago during the
last ice age at the western boundary of Narrow Hills Provincial Park, just south of
Highway 913. North flowing waters from that valley make their way into the
Nipekamew Creek while south flowing waters form Caribou Creek. Caribou Creek follows the course of the valley to
Lower Fishing Lake. Along the way, it is joined by several tributaries and there are three lakes along its course.
The first notable tributary to meet Caribou Creek is a river that begins at Bean Lake, near the northern boundary of Narrow Hills Provincial Park, and flows south to meet it. Less than a mile downstream, a short stream from
Summit Lake meets Caribou Creek and then it opens up into
Lost Echo Lake
Lost Echo Lake is a lake in the east-central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is situated in a glacier-formed valley in the Cub Hills and the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. It is located ...
. From the south end of Lost Echo Lake, the river opens up to a much smaller Lower Echo Lake. From there, Caribou Creek continues southward and is joined by tributaries from Fairy Glen Lake and Strickly Lake before emptying into Upper Fishing Lake. That stretch of river from Lost Echo Lake south to Upper Fishing Lake–a distance of 12 kilometres–is also known as Lost Echo Creek. From the eastern end of Upper Fishing Lake, the river carries on south-east past Caribou Creek Lodge and across Hanson Lake Road for about a mile and terminates at Lower Fishing Lake.
Brook trout
Brook trout were first introduced to the Lost Echo Creek portion of Caribou Creek in 1934. As Lost Echo Creek is well suited for brook trout, they adapted well and became naturalised. The only access to the creek is through trails off of Hanson Lake Road.
Since 1934, brook trout have been introduced to 25 rivers in the Cub Hills with five of those rivers now supporting populations of naturalised, self-sustaining feral brook trout. The other four rivers include the creeks of
Nipekamew,
White Gull, and
McDougal and
Mossy River
Mossy River is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river's source is east of Little Bear Lake and north-east of Narrow Hills Provincial Park in a hilly plateau called Cub Hills. The river travels through hills, boreal fores ...
. All seven of Saskatchewan's trout species can be found in the Cub Hills.
See also
*
List of rivers of Saskatchewan
This is a list of rivers of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada.
The largest and most notable rivers are listed at the start, followed by rivers listed by drainage basin and then alphabetically.
Principal river statistics
''SourcSt ...
*
Hudson Bay drainage basin
The Hudson Bay drainage basin is the drainage basin in northern North America where surface water empties into Hudson Bay and adjoining waters. Spanning an area of about , the basin is almost totally in Canada (spanning parts of the Prairies, cen ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of Saskatchewan
Tributaries of Hudson Bay
Northern Saskatchewan Administration District